Elizabeth Ann Wilkins

Elizabeth Ann Wilkins, 64, of Birmingham, Alabama, passed away on June 20, 2024. Her life will be celebrated on Monday, June 24, 2024, at The Church at Brook Hills in Hoover, Alabama. Friends will be received at 1 p.m. The funeral service will begin at 2 p.m., followed by a private family burial.

Elizabeth was born on October 28, 1959, in South Carolina. When she was a young child, her family moved to Costa Rica, where she was educated in a French-language private school in the Hispanic culture there. Being trilingual, she developed a love for language, which she pursued with undergraduate and masters degrees at Middle Tennessee State University, and later in life, a PhD from the language department at The University of Alabama.

Elizabeth felt a calling to serve, which she began by joining the US Air Force. After her tour, she turned her service to God. She worked for the Southern Baptist International Missions Board and then the Woman’s Missionary Union, writing Spanish-language evangelical material for children for churches to use in reaching the growing Hispanic population in the US.

Elizabeth married Henry Gary Wilkins on August 7, 2000, after they met and bonded through interest in missions. That interest grew into a shared love of serving others and serving God through international mission service. They started By Provision, a nonprofit organization, through which they drilled water wells and planted churches for people in villages in remote parts of Africa. While in Namibia, they established and ran a school and safe house for homeless teenage girls. After fifteen years in Africa, they moved their focus to Costa Rica, serving homeless people.

The pandemic forced Elizabeth and Gary back to the US. They have continued their mission service through By Provision from afar. They have also been actively involved in several local churches: The Church at Brook Hills, The Church at Chelsea Westover, Double Oak Community Church and Gracepoint Church.

Elizabeth is survived by her husband, Gary; her mother and stepfather, Kathryn Mallett and Mike Smith; children, Shirley and Christian; brothers and sisters and numerous stepchildren and grandchildren. She leaves a rich legacy of service to her Lord.